Pyongyang,North Korea--- North Korea refrained from displaying its intercontinental missiles in a massive military parade through Pyongyang celebrating its 70th birthday Sunday -- a conspicuous absence touted by US President Donald Trump as "a big and very positive statement". Thousands of North Korean troops marched through Pyongyang, followed by artillery and tanks but not the long-range missiles that have been a bone of contention in its nuclear tensions with Washington. "This is a big and positive statement from North Korea. Thank you To Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong!" Trump tweeted, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "There is nothing like g...Keep on reading: North Korea holds 70th anniversary parade, without ICBMs.....»»

By Kim Tong-Hyung, Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — With the Koreas, there's no separating their sports from their politics. The war-separated rivals will take their reconciliation steps to the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, where they will jointly march in the opening ceremony and field combined teams in basketball, rowing and canoeing. "Sports have played the role of peacemaker between the Koreas," said Kim Seong-jo, vice chairman of South Korea's Olympic committee and the country's chef de mission at the Asian Games. "If the combined teams put out good performances and win medals, that would be putting the cherry on the top." North and South Korea have used sports diplomacy this year in a bid to decrease animosity and initiate a new round of global diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang. South Korea leaders consider goodwill gestures as crucial to keep the positive atmosphere alive for what could become a long and difficult attempt to persuade the North to give up its nuclear and missile programs. There's not much Seoul can do beyond such gestures, though, as joint economic projects are out of the question when lifting sanctions against North Korea is far beyond the South's control. The more substantial discussions on the North's denuclearization — including what, when and how it would occur— are always going to be between Washington and Pyongyang. Here's a look at what the Koreas are planning for the Asian Games and their ebbs and flows in sports diplomacy: ___ BLUE FLAGS AND COMBINED TEAMS In the opening ceremony in Jakarta, athletes from North and South Korea will parade together under the flag featuring a blue map that symbolized a unified Korean Peninsula. It will be virtual repeat of the joint march during February's Winter Olympics in the South Korean ski resort of Pyeongchang, minus the gloves, parkas and fur hats. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent hundreds of athletes, artists and government officials to the Pyeongchang Olympics. The Koreas also fielded their first combined Olympic team in women's ice hockey, which drew passionate support from crowds despite losing all five of its games with a combined score of 28-2. At the Asian Games, the Koreas will be expected to deliver more than just feel-good stories. There's pressure for the investment to yield gold. A group of 34 North Korean athletes, coaches and officials have been in South Korea since last month for combined teams in women's basketball and the men's and women's events in rowing and canoeing. Coach Lee Moon-kyu, who has retained a core of South Korean players who won gold at the 2014 Asian Games at home in Incheon, got a first-hand look at North Korean players during exhibitions in Pyongyang in early July. Lee later picked three North Korean players for the Asian Games squad, including center Ro Suk Yong. Lee will also have a North Korean assistant coach on his bench. The Koreans will face Taiwan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and India in their preliminary group. South Korean forward Lim Yung-hui said the chemistry between the players has been improving. "The Northern players share the same goal of the gold medal and we talk a lot about how we should be putting out a good performance there," Lim said. "We weren't given much time, but we are practicing hard in a positive atmosphere." The Koreas will field combined teams in dragon boat events in canoeing and the lightweight men's four, lightweight men's eight and lightweight women's double sculls in rowing. If a combined team wins gold, athletes on the podium will hear the traditional folk song of "Arirang,"used in both Koreas as an unofficial anthem for peace, instead of their respective national anthems. The Korean athletes are likely to become an attraction at the Asian Games, where the international media will follow closely. At the Pyeongchang Olympics, South Korean figure skater Kam Alex Kang-chan created a media frenzy by taking a selfie with North Korea's Kim Ju Sik and posting it on Instagram. The photo recalled a famous 2016 selfie taken by two North and South Korean gymnasts at the Rio Olympics which International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach described as a "great gesture." ___ THEY DON'T ALWAYS PLAY NICE The Koreas have a history of using sports to foster diplomacy since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The 1991 world table tennis championships in Japan were the first time the Koreas fielded a combined team at a major international event. The atmosphere wasn't always friendly, though. During the height of their Cold War rivalry and recurring periods of animosity since, sports often became an alternate political battlefield. North Korean athletes and coaches would reject handshakes with their South Korean competitors and berate South Korean reporters during news conferences. The sports detente of 1991 evaporated when a North Korean athlete who competed at the world judo championships in Barcelona defected and arrived in South Korea amid heavy media coverage. North Korea boycotted the 1986 Asian Games and the '88 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and relations dramatically worsened on the eve of the Seoul Olympics with the bombing of a South Korean passenger jet that killed all 115 aboard in December 1987. The inter-Korean warmth heading into this year's Asian Games contrasts with the awkwardness between the rivals surrounding the 2014 Asiad held in South Korea. Seoul's then-conservative government invited North Korean athletes to compete, but made it clear it had no interest in joint marches or combined teams. North Korean subsequently withdrew an offer to send its all-female cheering squad to Incheon after squabbling with the hosts over costs. North Korean leader Kim did send a senior government delegation to the closing ceremony, but they returned home without meeting then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The North was still seething over the Asian Game treatment years later as it gleefully observed Park's presidency crashing over a corruption scandal. "The Park Geun-hye group's mad confrontational racket is to blame for why (the North Korean) visit to Incheon did not result in improved relations," the North said in a statement in April last year. ___ WILL THE GOOD TIMES LAST? Kim has found a willing counterpart in Moon, a liberal who won the presidential by-elections to replace Park last year. Since the Pyeongchang Olympics, Kim has met Moon twice and leveraged the summits to get to U.S. President Donald Trump. After their June summit in Singapore, Kim and Trump issued a vague aspirational goal for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing specific plans. Sports exchanges and other goodwill gestures are important policy tools for Moon, who wants Seoul to be in the "driver's seat" in international efforts to deal with Pyongyang. The Koreas have also agreed to resume temporary reunions between relatives separated by the war and are holding military talks to reduce tensions across their heavily armed border. "Hopefully, (the Asian Games) will provide an opportunity to use sports to facilitate diplomacy and cooperation," Moon said while meeting Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Seoul last month. Seoul's presidential office hasn't announced yet whether Moon would attend the opening ceremony in Jakarta on Aug. 18. Whatever happens in Indonesia or with nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, the Koreas will always have those heartening selfies posted by athletes. "Sports can be used to build momentum and trust, but they don't solve fundamental problems," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University and a policy adviser to Moon. "There's not much South Korea can currently do, but at least it's trying to actively do the things it can to keep the positive atmosphere alive. ".....»»

SEOUL: North Korea staged a military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday, in a show of strength just a day before the Winter Olympics open in the South. The nuclear-armed North is on an Olympics-linked charm offensive—sending a troupe of performers, hundreds of female cheerleaders, and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un to South Korea. [...] The post North Korea holds military parade on eve of Games appeared first on The Manila Times Online......»»

Unfortunate, however, that the salamangka’s revelation only hangs by the dog’s nose. Digong still holds the stage and is at its center to wave his hands with so many assistants helping him with props and blinders. And here comes the military cavalry to further enforce his hoodwinking......»»

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte thumbed down some forms of hazing among soldiers and police, saying such practices will only lead to psychological trauma. During the situation briefing on Typhoon Rosita on Thursday, November 1, Duterte said he had dismissed police personnel who ........»»

SEOUL --- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants Pope Francis to visit the officially atheist country, South Korea said Tuesday. South Korea's presidential office said in a statement that Kim told President Moon Jae-in during their summit last month that the Pope would be "enthusiastically" welcomed in North Korea. Kim has been intensely engaged in diplomacy in recent months in what's seen as an effort to leverage his nuclear weapons program for an easing of economic sanctions and military pressure. North Korea strictly controls the religious activities of its people, and a similar invitation for then-Pope John Paul II to visit after a ...Keep on reading: Seoul says Kim Jong Un wants Pope Francis to visit North Korea.....»»

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said it struck jihadists on Monday, October 1, in Syria with ballistic missiles and combat drones in retaliation for a deadly attack on an Iranian military parade, warning the "real punishment" was still to come. Last month's shooting in the Iranian city of Ahvaz killed 24 people ........»»

DUBAI— Iran‘s elite Revolutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to exact “deadly and unforgettable” vengeance for an attack on a military parade that killed 25 people, including 12 of their comrades, and Tehran accused Gulf Arab states of backing the gunmen. Saturday’s assault, one of the worst ever against the most powerful force of the Islamic Republic, […].....»»

AHVAZ, Iran --- In a collective outpouring of grief, Iranians held funerals Monday for the victims of the weekend terror attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz that killed 25 people, the deadliest attack in the country in nearly a decade. READ:Gunmen attack Iran military parade, killing at least 25 Saturday's assault in Ahvaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan, was blamed on Iran's Arab separatists. At least 60 people were also wounded when militants disguised as soldiers opened fire at marching troops and onlookers at the parade. The attack has further shaken Iran, already facing turmoil in the wake of the American withdraw from Tehran's nuclear deal wi...Keep on reading: Iran holds funerals for victims of terror attack in Ahvaz.....»»

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran on Sunday, September 23, warned the United Arab Emirates over "offensive remarks" attributed to a UAE "political advisor" on the weekend's deadly attack on an Iranian military parade. The Emirati charge d'affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry over the advisor's "blatant support" for Saturday's attack in the city of Ahvaz that killed 29 people , ........»»

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday, September 23, pointed blame at Arab separatists for a deadly attack on a military parade and accused an unnamed US-backed Gulf state of supporting them. Tehran also summoned diplomats from Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain for allegedly hosting members of the group ........»»

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed a “crushing” response after assailants sprayed a crowd with gunfire, shooting dead at least 29 people including women and children at a military parade near the Iraqi border. Iran vows ‘crushing response’ after gunmen kill 29 at army parade Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed a Source link: Iran vows ‘crushing response’ after gunmen kill 29 at army parade.....»»

TEHRAN, Iran (4th UPDATE) – Iran's President Hassan Rouhani vowed a "crushing response" after gunmen shot dead at least 29 people including women and children on Saturday, September 22, in an attack on an Iranian military parade. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed to have carried out the rare assault ........»»

TEHRAN, Iran --- Gunmen disguised as soldiers attacked an annual Iranian military parade Saturday in the country's oil-rich southwest, killing at least 25 people and wounding 53 in the bloodiest assault to strike the country in recent years. The attack in Ahvaz saw gunfire sprayed into a crowd of marching Revolutionary Guardsmen, bystanders and government officials watching from a nearby riser. Suspicion immediately fell on the region's Arab separatists, who previously only attacked unguarded oil pipelines under the cover of darkness. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif immediately blamed the attack on regional countries and their "U.S. masters," calling the gunmen "te...Keep on reading: Gunmen attack Iran military parade, killing at least 25.....»»

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) started monitoring the situation in Iran after gunmen attacked a military parade on Saturday, killing at least 2r people and wounding more than 50 others. According to a DFA statement, the Philippine Embassy in Tehran had started gathering more information on the attack, which that took place in the southern city of Ahvaz, 820 kilometers southwest of Tehran near the border with Iraq. Ambassador Wilfredo Santos said gunmen wearing military uniforms staged the attack at around 9:00 a.m. local time. According to the DFA website, there are a total of 1,184 Filipinos in Iran as of June 1, 2017./atm READ: Gunmen attack Iran military parad...Keep on reading: DFA monitoring situation in Iran after attack on military parade.....»»

TEHRAN, Iran – Militants attacked a military parade in southwestern Iran on Saturday, September 22, killing several civilians, state media reported. A woman and a child were among at least 20 people wounded in the attack by a "group of assailants" on the parade in the city of Ahvaz, the official ........»»

TEHRAN, Iran---Gunmen attacked an annual Iranian military parade Saturday in the country's oil-rich southwest, killing at least eight members of the country's elite Revolutionary Guard and wounding 20 others, local media reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault in Ahvaz, which saw gunfire spray into a crowd of marching Guardsmen, bystanders and government officials watching from a nearby riser. However, Iran faced a bloody assault last year from the Islamic State group and Arab separatists in the region have attacked oil pipelines there in the past. State television aired footage of the aftermath of the assault on Ahvaz's Quds, o...Keep on reading: Local news agency: 8 elite Iranian guards die in attack.....»»

BEIJING: China’s top legislator voiced hope that North Korea and the United States will implement their nuclear summit agreement as he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese state media said Monday. Li Zhanshu, sent by President Xi Jinping to attend North Korea’s 70th anniversary parade on Sunday, said China was committed to… link: China calls on US, NKorea to implement Singapore deal.....»»

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korea is preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation this weekend with a series of festivities, expected to include a military parade and the return of its renowned 'Mass Games' after a 5-year absence. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the North ........»»